Hang Time

On page 94 of this month's issue of Outside Magazine Nick Heil writes an absorbing article entitled Hang Time. See if you can find it, perhaps even online. The captivating part of the article is Heil's assertion "that by moving slowly and repeatedly through complex and dynamic movements, we can rewire our minds to perform those movements more efficiently. The unfamiliar movements get the brain reacquainted with muscles that it rarely calls on (or may have stopped calling on in the wake of an injury) but that are quietly waiting in reserve."

Here at swimcoachdirect we have been reading a lot about the brain over the last six months or so. We have ideas to share with you in the coming weeks about what we are learning. This article is one of many that have been popping up in more mainstream print media lately that talk about the connection between the brain and the body. Science has learned a huge amount that is now being shared about how the human performance machine works, what causes some folks to be more efficient than others...the list is nearly mind boggling!

So, for now and for the pure fun of it follow this link and watch the five short video clips of Nick Heil in the "Lab Rat" section as he demonstrates technique on 5 very familiar exercises. What we like about them is that they are simple, can be done nearly anywhere and yet when done correctly will make a huge difference in the way your body is able to move.

So check it out at OutSideOnline.com and let us know what you think. See you at the pool!

Then There is the Matter of Confidence

As US Swimming Club coaches one of the many bonuses we have is real time connectivity to a number of collegiate programs. This connection comes as a result of our swimmers who graduate high school and matriculate into college and university programs.

This week one of our swimmers sent to us an interesting article he received as a member of his school's swim team. Sport and Clinical Psychologist Scott Goldman, Ph.D. writes about the matter of confidence. In all areas of performance, not just sport, confidence plays huge role. We were particularly struck by Michael Jordan's comment that one of the big reasons for his success was his failures.

Have a great week in the water. Enjoy the article and let us know what you think!

Confidence

The Case for Surfing

There are any numbers of cross training activities that can be beneficial to swimmers. Indeed, swimming is a very favorable cross training activity for many other types of athletes! But we digress...

Many swimmers currently do some sort of dry land training which may incorporate anything from basic calisthenics at home to more detailed lifting programs in a gym to spin classes to gymnastics to yoga to tai chi and other forms of martial arts to boxing. The list is nearly endless.

If the activity does any of the following it probably has merit:
Promotes basic strength
Develops any type of core muscles
Has any cardio element to it
Safely promotes risk taking

We know lots of swimmers who bike, run, hike, rock climb and box in addition to the more standard (still enormously beneficial) weight lifting.

Here in northern California we have some on our team who love to surf. This option is not available in many locales but for those who have access we would ask you to consider it. We even go as far as giving those who surf a regular pool workout off so long as they go to the ocean.

In our minds surfing has excellent value. It is water based and as such it still places a premium on figuring out how your body works best in the water. It often demands super strength in the upper body to get the board out into position. When you catch the wave it presents all sorts of timing issues which is great for swimmers working on coordination in the water. Then when you stand up on the board all sorts of core muscles are being recruited.

Perhaps the quality we like best though is the one involving choice and risk. Every day the ocean is different such that you never really know if what you expect is what you will find. That is very much like many swim workouts and races...you never really know what you are up against until you engage. The icing on the cake in surfing is that once you are there and get a "read" on the scene it still changes! One minute you are looking at riding 4 footers and then along comes a 6 or 7 footer and everything immediately and without warning changes. If you look over your shoulder expecting a 4 footer and are faced with a 6 or 7 footer you are faced with a decision that must be made NOW. Are you willing to attempt riding it? And if so, what do you need to do to be successful?

Competitive swimmers often face instantaneous decision making. How well you respond often determines how successful you are. You had a great prelim swim and now you are in the finals - often unexpectedly. You are racing a well known competitor and suddenly she/he makes a move that is not expected thereby catching you off guard. How will you react and how well will you handle the unknown?

To our way of thinking, surfing presents you with a chance to practice all these skills. For that reason alone it is a favorite cross training activity in our book. If you have ever surfed and have a story to tell, let us know. We would love to share it with the swimcoachdirect community. Have a great week!

The Only Real Limitations Are Self-Imposed

The following article was written for ESPN and brought to our attention by one of our swimmers who is now a freshman training at a D 1 top ten NCAA program. It is especially interesting to us since the swimmer noticed the role of the brain in the process of evaluating limits. This is a topic near and dear to us. We often do "brain training" with our team. Isn't it a little crazy that as coaches when we say things in meetings or on pool deck we wonder if anyone is really listening? Well we admit to being pleasantly surprised when this article was forwarded to us. Enjoy the tale, and then let us know what you think. Remember, the more we share the quicker we all learn!

Limits and Illusions: Michael Jordan in the NBA at 50

Exceeding Expectations

We have been re-reading Tony Jeary’s book Strategic Acceleration in an effort to impart to our swimmers how to identify what he calls “highly leveraged activities”.

He refers to “the strategic acceleration tripod” which works to achieve superior results faster. The three legs of the tripod are clarity, focus and execution. He defines clarity as “knowing what you really want”. Focus is “about avoiding distractions and learning to identify the high leverage activities that significantly move the results needle.”

While all three are equally important in that your chances of success go down dramatically when you lack one or more of them, execution is where you spend the bulk of your time. Execution is the “doing” and that is where we spend the majority of our time and effort. As such it is important to consider the impact of exceeding expectations.

Jeary points out that he has learned “a lot about meeting and exceeding expectations, and one of the things I’ve learned is that it’s not complicated or hard to understand. Expectations are met when things happen the way people expect them to happen. However, expectations are exceeded when positive things happen that people do not expect.”

He goes on, “I want to be very clear about why exceeding expectations is the strategic mind-set that leads to the creation of superior results. Exceeding expectations is a strategic way of thinking based on the fact that we ultimately become and do what we think. The mind is the engine of action, and action produces results.”

We have our swimmers regularly consider the power of goals on their actions. When a swimmer tells us that they want to swim in college, we ask them to consider if their training supports their declared intention. It is a way for us to help keep their focus in a world busy with homework, social and athletic pursuits. What we are attempting to do – and we are having a pretty darned good measure of success with it – is get them to understand that their thought process leads to their actions.

And if they want to get there faster then they need to consider the concept of exceeding their level of expectation. To use Jeary’s words, coaching becomes the following in our eyes: “To persuade others to exceed expectations requires us to be able to persuade them to think differently about what they do and how they do it.”

On our set Saturday after discussing this concept with them we asked them to exceed their expectations as they trained. Many did just that and as a result swam faster and tougher as the challenge rose the deeper we got into the set. We have our first meet next week and we are asking them to do the same thing there, regardless of how they feel due to heavy training. We feel confident that most will respond to the challenge!

Making the Case for Open Water

We just got back from a local open water swim and it sure was fun to see so many swimmers from around the area as well as a few famous ones who traveled in for the event. Today was the Tiburon Mile; the 10th annual time the event has been staged with the money raised this year going to Hospice by the Bay. This swim in San Francisco Bay begins with folks gathering in the town of Tiburon, CA doing all the usual things: registering, picking up numbers and ankle bracelets, goodie bags etc. Then all the swimmers get on one of two ferries and head across the open water known locally as Raccoon Straits to Angel Island. There they disembark and head for the beach area for the starting line.

Once the gun sounds it is a mad dash for the water and the best spot in the pack. Depending upon your goals, you either charge toward the front, enduring the rough going as swimmers vie for their preferred line or you hang back a little looking for your own "sweet spot" as you settle in for the more or less one mile swim back to the town. As you get into the harbor there is a well marked chute which leads you up onto a small patch of sand and gravel where your ankle bracelet trips the electronic eye and records your finish with both elapsed time and place.

There are multiple divisions from elite to age group to wetsuit. It is fun and challenging all at the same time. You swim with some of the world's fastest open water swimmers even if you are a weekend warrior type. The finish area is complete with ardent well wishers and curious town folk just out for a Sunday morning coffee.

But what is extremely fun to watch is the expressions of the predominant pool swimmers who are making their annual open water swim or even perhaps their first attempt. The water is a chilly 55 or so degrees, you cannot see the bottom, there is no line to follow, people are pushing each other - sometimes intentionally, most times not - there is a current to deal with and usually some wave action plus today there were seals frolicking near the entrance to the harbor.

Most folks learned something about themselves today in their pursuit of adventure. We saw lots of smiles and folks being proud of their personal victories. What we liked was the fact that many of the pool only swimmers got out of their comfort zones today. Regardless of how fast they were in comparison to the field they all had an experience they will remember for many years. Nearly all who started finished; to our knowledge no one was seriously injured and several hours later we are guessing that most if not all have warmed back up enough to allow themselves a well earned feeling of contentedness.

So if you are a pool only swimmer check your local listings for an open water event near you and give it a try...and conversely, if you are an open water or tri-athlete check with your local Masters swim scene and go racing in the pool sometime before your season is over. It is always interesting to step outside your immediate comfort zone! Let us know how it goes for you!

The Twin Power of Tempo and Distance Per Stroke

All swimmers know the power and speed that comes from a combination of turnover - tempo - and efficient stroke technique - measured as distance per stroke. A recent article in the SF Chronicle captured this perfectly, as applied to track. We underlined a couple of key points for emphasis.

What's next for Bolt - the 400? the 800?
John Crumpacker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, August 23, 2009

(08-22) 16:56 PDT -- What kind of numbers are these? Nine and five-eighths? Wasn't that O.J. Simpson's helmet size, 95/8? Nineteen nineteen? My dear, departed mother was born in 1919.

What's next, 430? That's my credit score if I don't get these bills in the snail mail.

Until a flash of lightning named Usain Bolt came along, times of 9.58 for the 100 meters and 19.19 for the 200 just did not compute. Even the fastest of men did not, could not, dream of running such times.

Then along came this Lightning Bolt from Jamaica jouncing down the track wearing a suit of green and yellow ebullience and all of a sudden, world sprinting has been redefined.

I sat in awe of the man a year ago at the Beijing Olympics, and this past week in Berlin at the World Championships he obliterated those jaw-dropping 2008 records.

At 6-foot-5, Bolt represents a paradigm shift in sprinting. What makes him unbeatable is the length of his stride combined with his turnover, the time it takes him to put one foot down and then the other.

Bolt's turnover is just as quick as his shorter competitors, but with his longer stride pattern, he takes fewer steps to get from the start to the finish. Can't beat it.

A year ago, Michael Johnson took in the measure of Bolt at the Beijing Olympics and had this scouting report: "He has an incredibly long stride, which affords him the ability to cover more ground. He has been able to take that long stride that he has and combine it with technique and with his high turnover he can destroy the field."

Our sport of swimming is not unique in that every now and then an athlete comes along who re-writes the record book combining technique and speed from the body type they were given genetically. Everyone in 2008 was talking about Michael Phelps. A few years back it was Ian Thorpe from Australia that had everyone buzzing (remember his suit by the way? Completely form fitted in case you forgot...).

In golf 10 years or so ago Tiger Woods came on the scene. He completely altered the way pro golfers train. Why? Simply put: pro golf is competitive (probably all golf - we wouldn't know!) and if you want to beat the person in front of you, you had better do what he/she is doing and then do something more and or different.

Usain Bolt is "unbelievable" and yet we are willing to wager that there are more than one or two track sprinters out there who are already working on how to beat him. This is the nature of competitive sports (or business or education - don't think for a moment that colleges and universities are not aware of what the "competition" is doing) - either you are improving or the competition is getting further ahead. It is really quite simple; not complex at all.

The trick is to figure out what to work on and in our sport most, if indeed not all of it gets reduced to the twin concepts of keeping your tempo up while keeping your distance per stroke rate at the maximum you can achieve.
For starters, next time you swim a lap count your strokes. If you can somehow reduce that number by one while keeping your stroke rate - tempo - the same, you will swim the lap faster.

Good luck and let us know how we can help!

And Then There Is Co-Curricular

We were having a staff meeting today discussing how we would present our program to a group of new swimmers and parents. One of our coaches, David Winters, used the word "co-curricular" in the most interesting and fascinating way.

We are working diligently to get our senior training group swimmers ready for the challenges facing them when they go into a collegiate swim program. It is not merely enough for them to have fast times; they need to be ready to handle the work load often required by top level programs regardless of in which Division the school resides.

In our area the Summer Swim League is so dominant that it often dwarfs the US Swimming programs. Since the League only swims 50's of the various strokes all the way through the 14 year olds, when we get a swimmer from one of those recreation programs they have no idea how to swim 100's and 200's let alone a 500. And amazingly the swimmers and their parents think that it is not that big a deal to step up to the longer distances and often have unrealistic expectations about the learning process.

So we were thinking about a good way to explain this to the new group we are cultivating. We likened it to the scholastic process. If your child is headed to say Harvard for an engineering degree but doesn't take the necessary math classes in high school, including Advanced Placement ones, he/she will be so far behind the curve as a freshman in college that success will be darned hard to come by.

We also reckon that many parents look at US Swimming as an "extra-curricular" activity when in fact it can be a major influence in a) where the student athlete goes to college and b) her/his ability to actually gain admission to the school of their choice.

David was correctly suggesting that we change their mindset to one where US Swimming is regarded as in fact co-curricular so that they view its potential more seriously. Getting admitted to college is so competitive these days that any edge can make the difference. Being a recruited member of that college's swim program - again regardless of the Division of the school - often makes or breaks acceptance. We have swimmers on our team who can attest to this fact.

So, as you go about the business of "selling" your program to future and current participants perhaps you can frame your points of reference in such a way that they better understand the "value added" of what you deliver. Good luck and let us know how it goes for you!

WHAT DOES YOUR LIST LOOK LIKE? HOW MANY PUSH UPS ARE YOU DOING?

Garrett Weber-Gale is a member of the US National Team. His blog comes to us by way of US Swimming. We find it refreshingly honest. Let us know what you think!

Living and Learning...Sometimes the Hard Way
by Garrett Weber-Gale

Breaststroke Timing

Breaststroke is an interesting and somewhat more complex stroke to master, at least initially. One reason this is so is that it has what appears to have two separate and distinct propulsive phases. Yet when done correctly there is continuous propulsion; meaning that either the arms or legs are always working.

The two main technique errors seem to be: 1) being out of streamline position at most or all of the time during the stroke cycle and 2) gliding at the end of the kick phase.

Here is the contradiction: the fastest breaststrokers spend more time in the streamlined position than they do in the pull or kick phase and yet they never stop to glide. How can this be, you wonder? The answer is easier to give than to accomplish in the water: they never stop pulling or kicking...hmmmmm.

Get someone to time your complete stroke cycle from when your hands begin to separate on the pull to when your heels come together at the end of the kick's propulsion. (There are several different ways to time a stroke cycle; this is simply the one we use. It matters not which one you use so long as it incorporates a complete arm/leg cycle.) The fastest folks are no longer than 1.7 seconds and most are 1.3 or 1.4. What this means is that they are really moving at a fast tempo which allows them to be in a streamlined position for more of the cycle.

One common error is that as your hands begin to separate for the pull you will be bringing your feet up toward your hips to kick. If you do this then you are pulling your body in a non streamlined position since your feet and thighs will be dragging in the water. The other common error is as you begin to push with your feet your arms begin to drift apart anticipating the pull part of the stroke. When this happens you are also kicking a wider surface than if your hands were together in a streamlined position.

How do you fix these problems? Start with a pull buoy and go one lap simply pulling yourself with as short a pause after each pull as you can manage. Don't be alarmed if this leaves you breathless. Then take the pull buoy and hold it out in front of you and kick with as short a pause as you can. Do several one lappers this way alternating pull and kick. Then tackle a one lap swim with both arms and legs, making certain that you pull with your legs straight behind you and that you kick with your hands together in front of you. At first this may seem rushed to you but if you stick to shorter distances with enough rest to do it properly you will find that you can manage to do this correctly.

Remember: pull then kick and keep the recovery of the arms and legs moving quickly as well. We also recommend that you count the number of strokes you take for a lap as a reference point. Over time you will find the balance between tempo and distance per stroke.

Of course, if you want to sign up for a video analysis we can help that way as well. Let us know how it goes for you!

One More Thing To Consider

We are in Federal Way just outside of Seattle this and next week competing at the US Open and Junior National Championships. One of the most gratifying opportunities at such meets is the chance to exchange ideas with fellow coaches, swimmers and officials. Whenever you get a group of like minded people together there are always good information/perspectives available.

One of the most respected coaches is Terry Stoddard of Swim Pasadena. He is the one who gave us the quote that "Long course swimming is the truth serum of our sport." We were discussing with him various reactions athletes have after their swims. He had an interesting perspective.

Swimmers can be frustrated, angry, disappointed and even discouraged if a swim doesn't meet expectations. Terry said, "It's OK to be disappointed; but never OK to be discouraged."

We hope those words ring the same way with you as they did with us. One of our swimmers wasn't very happy with a swim this week. Emotions were very real and very exposed. We said that it was OK to be upset but not to get down on yourself. You are in a National level meet competing with the very fastest swimmers available. If you handled your swim in less than perfect fashion it is not a sin; it is merely a swim that didn't go as planned - learn from it and move on. Use the disappointment as fuel for motivation for the next swim or the next round of training. Getting down on yourself, or as Terry would say, getting discouraged is pointless. It has no short or long term value. All the mornings you got up before the sun, all the lifts in the weight room, all the sacrifices you have made in fact make it impossible for you to be discouraged. You have made such a personal commitment to excellence that will always be of value no matter how fast you swim a particular race.

This goes for coaches as well. Disappointment is something we must learn to cope with. As long as we do our level best we cannot allow ourselves to get discouraged. We hope this viewpoint helps. We are all striving for personal improvement. We are all measured on the outside by how we swim/coach compared to others when in fact we can only control how we do and more importantly, how we handle the outcomes on the inside.

We hope this helps. Let us know your thoughts and have a great week!

Hitting For The Sake Of Hitting

There was an interesting article in this Saturday’s San Francisco Chronicle about the Oakland Raiders and their somewhat unique approach to training camp. David White writes, “Take the old school of two-a-day practices, add the new school of football teaching, and that explains all this standing around at the Raiders training camp…Instead of doing what normal NFL teams do at training camp – strap up and hit somebody – the Raiders are spending the first four days of camp in an outdoor classroom. No pads. No hitting. No plays run. No sweat broken. Just lots of teaching and, Cable (Head Coach Tom Cable) hopes, lots of learning. “It seemed like it was weird at first,” linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba said Friday. “But you go through it and it’s a great concept.”

This is Cable’s idea: Teach the players what they are supposed to do, down to the last details, before cutting them loose to do it on the field. Injuries are limited, if only because it is near impossible to get hurt practicing at the speed of jog. “It’s a chance to really sort it all out and work through it before all of a sudden you put the combative part into it,” said Cable. He adds, “This is unique because we don’t have the stress, we don’t get beat up. We’re really learning and relearning.”

They are not hitting merely for the sake of hitting.

Swimming For The Sake Of Swimming

Often coaches, especially at the beginning of the season, want to emphasize aerobic fitness with their swimmers. Masters swimmers and tri-athletes often do the same. What can happen if you are not careful is that you end up doing a lot of swimming merely for the sake of getting in the yardage. To be sure, lots of yardage can (but is not guaranteed to) drive the general fitness level up; but at what cost?

We suggest that you take a page from Tom Cable’s coaching manual and spend some time getting your strokes more proficient, especially early in the season. If you are already in mid season training phase why not take one day per week and simply focus on technique? This will get you back to basics and give you a recovery day at the same time. Perhaps you take a lesson that day, or watch a video and then get in the pool and play with the new drill(s) you saw in the video.

We have swimmers on our team who are in great shape but make the same mistakes technically over and over again. We think that has some to do with ineffective coaching and part to do with swimmers who think they can “muscle” their way to the top.

We can tell you this much about the World Championships taking place in Rome this week: those swimmers in the suits setting world records are very efficient and proficient in the pool. It is inspiring us to rethink how we will begin our season in the fall.

Swimmers who want to swim fast need first to swim correctly and then work on their training systems. That much we are sure of…the rest of the stuff we are still working on!